21 January 2014

Fast Food Wages and Income Inequality

For the week of January 26th, 2014

In recent weeks, fast food workers have taken to the streets to protest low wages. Supporters of a minimum wage increase say it’s long overdue and will benefit not only low paid workers but the economy as well. Critics say it will drive up costs for businesses—and ultimately consumers—at a time when the economic recovery is still tepid. On this week’s Access Minnesota, a conversation with Ken Jacobs, co-author of a study called “Fast Food, Poverty Wages.”

Guest: Ken Jacobs, Chair at the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education, co-author of “Fast Food, Poverty Wages.”

Issues: What minimum wage workers cost taxpayers in public assistance; Efforts to organize workers and improve wages and benefits; How raising the minimum wage would impact the economy; Why rising income inequality jeopardizes our economic future